Spiral actuated slidable jaw end wrench



y 1952 G. F. SCHLOTE ET AL SPIRAL ACTUATED SLIDABLE JAW END WRENCH FiledMay 12, 1950 Attorney Patented July 15,1952

SPIRAL Aclroarsn sLIoAnLs J'AW END WRENCH Guido F. Schlote and Richard0. Winter, Milwaulice, Wis, assignors'to De Pere Tool Products, n -i DPer Wis, a corporati n of Wisconsin Applijcat ion ma 12, 1950, SerialNo. 161,568

This invention relates to an improved con 'struction of adjustable endwrench and has for its primary object to provide a wrench constructionwhich may be much more economically manufactured and sold due to certainnovel features of construction thereof whereby otherwise necessarydrilling of holes, broaching of head contour and other manufacturingoperations are eliminated and by means of which otherwise necessaryinternal bearing surfaces or end journals may be omitted withoutadversely afiecting the operation of the tool.

A further object of the invention is to provide an end wrench whereinthe use of beveled gears is eliminated and which is so constructed thatone of the gears of the wrench provides its own bearthe surface.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawing'illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the wr n h;-

Figure 2 is an edge elevational view thereof looking from top to bottomof Figure 1; Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view takensubstantially along a plane-as indicated by the line 3+3 of Figure 2,and

Figures 4, and 6 are enlarged cross sectional views taken substantiallyalong planes as indi cated by the lines 4-4, ii-55 and E-- 6,respectively, of Figure 3.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the adjustable and wrench inits entirety is designated generally 8- and includes mating sections,

designated generally 9- and IQ, having complementary portions combiningto form a. wrench head H and a handle Hi.

The; mating sections 9 and Hi preferably constitute drop forgings whichare copper-brazed together along their abutting faces I3 (Figures 4 5and 6). The handle portions and the sections 9 and I!) are recessed toprovide a relatively large bore Hi which extends from adjacent the headand which opens outwardly of the end of the handle, vdisposed remote tothe head I l. The sections 8 and 9 are recessed to provide a bore if: inthe head H which is disposed obliquely to the axis ofthe handle l2 andwhich is closed at one of its ends by a restricted frusto-conical end ofthe bore I 5 which forms a journal l-'6 and which has an opposite openend which is internally threaded as seen at H The bore M and the bore isare; connected by a here it which constitutes 4 Claims. (01. S l 165.)

an enlarged extension of the inner end of the bore M- and which isformed by reaming out complementary portions of the sections 9 and Ill;said enlarged bore portion l8 forming'a bearing or journal, as willhereinafter be described.

I The edge of the head ll, rem-otefrom the handle in Figure 3.

A brass bushing 24 is detachably secured; in the bore l2, adjacent theend thereof remote from the head ll, by a setscrew 25 whichlextends intothe bore M through a threaded opening 2-6 and which bears with its innerend against a portion of the bushing 26.

A strip of metal is spirally wound to form a spiral 2.1. theconvolutionsoilwhich are spaced apart to form a spiral slot 28 therebetween. A stem29 haseone end disposed in an end of the spiral 2'7 andis suitablysecured thereto as by a soft solder connection; the opposite end of thestem .29' extending from. said endof the spiral 21 through the bore ofthe bushing 24 and in which the stem is journaled to rotatably supportsaid end of the spiral. S'aid'last: mentioned portion of the stem 29, adjacent its terminal, is provided with annular rooves, 3% in which a'spring retaining clip'3 l'is dctachably engaged.1 Said clip 3| bearsagainst the outerside of the bushing- 24. to preventthe stem 259. fromsliding through the bushing inward'ly of the bore I4 and the end of thespiral 2? in which the stem, 29 is secured bearsagainst the oppositeside of the bushing 24 to prevent the stem from sliding 'therethrough inthe oppo'site,=direction. The. handle sections are preferably providedwith aligned openings 32 located beyond the bushing 24 to afiord moreready access to the spring clip-3i A brass gear 3-3 is journaled in theenlarged bore portion l8. A peg 34 has one end secured in the gear 33,centrally thereof, and projectsperpendi'cularly from said gear into thebore l4 and is received in the opposite end'of the spiral?! which issimilarly secured by a soft solder connection to said peg 34 and so thatsaid end of the's'piral 21 will abut against an inner end of the gear33-fr om which the peg 34 projects. The opposite outer end of the gear33 which faces into the bore i is internally beveled or recessed, asseen at 35 so that the teeth of the gear 33 at said outer endsubstantially correspond to a crown gear or wheel.

A worm 36 is loosely disposed in the bore i5 and the stem or core 31 ofsaid worm has a frustoconical end 38 which extends beyond one end of thespiral or thread 39 of the worm and which frusto-conical end isjournaled in a similarly shaped closed end I6 of the bore IS. The stemor core 31, beyond the opposite end of the thread 39 is provided with atoothed enlargement forming a pinion 40 which is disposed to mesh withthe ends of the teeth of the gear 33 which are contiguous with therecessed or internally beveled end 35 of said gear. stem or core 31 isof reduced diameter and provided with a tapered terminal 4| which isjournaled in a similarly shaped recess 42 formed in one end of anexternally threaded thrust bearing 43 which threadedly engages thethreaded bore portion H. An externally threaded annular member 44engages the threaded bore portion I1, outwardly of the bearing 43 toretain said bearing in an adjusted position in the bore portion l1 andso that the pinion-i9 will be properly disposed for meshing engagementwith the gear 33.

A movable jaw 45 has a shank 46 which slidably engages in the passage 2|and which has a restricted side edge portion 41 at one end thereof whichis provided with teeth for engaging the worm thread 39. The shank 46 hasa recessed side edge portion 48 at its opposite end to accommodate thebearing 43 and the threaded member 44. The other side edge 49 of theshank 46 is likewise reduced in thickness to slidably fit the reducedrecess portion 23 and the jaw 45 is integrally formed with said reducedshank portion 49 and extends laterally therefrom at the end of the shankremote from its toothed portion 41 so that the jaw 45 is disposed inopposed relationship to the stationary jaw 29 for movement toward andaway from said jaw 29 when the shank 46 is reciprocated in the passage2|.

The handle I2 is preferably oval-shaped in cross section, as seen inFigures 4, 5 and 6 and a similarly shaped collar 50 is slidably disposedthereon and has a pin 5| fixed thereto and which projects inwardly froma portion thereof through a longitudinally extending slot 52 formed inthe part of the handle l2 formed by the section III. The inner end ofthe pin 5| loosely engages in the spiral slot 28 of the spiral 21 sothat by sliding the collar 50 in one direction on the handle I2 thespiral 21 and the gear 33 which is secured thereto will be revolved inone direction, and by sliding the collar in the opposite direction, thespiral and gear will berevolved in the opposite direction.

-It will be readily apparent that through meshing engagement of the gear33 and pinion 40, the worm 36 will be revolved in unison with the spiral21 so that when said worm is turned in one direction the shank 46 willslide in the passage 2| in one direction and when the worm is revolvedin the other direction, said shank 46 will be moved in the oppositedirection thereby causing the movable jaw 45 which is carried by theshank 46 to be moved either toward or away from the stationary jaw 20.

It will thus be apparent that an adjustable end wrench of extremelysimple construction has been provided which is capable of being veryeconomically manufactured due to the fact that the sections 9 and 0 ofthe body member 8 may be pre- Beyond the pinion 40, the

formed with proper recesses therein to form the bore |4, enlarged borel8, the bore l5 and passage 2|, when said sections are secured togetherin abutting engagement by copper-brazing, as previously described.Obviously, the flat surfaces of the sections 9 and I0 are smoothlyground before the sections are connected thereby greatly facilitatingthe operation of finishing the body member. Likewise, this constructioneliminates the need for a thrust bearing to hold the gear 33 againstdisplacement toward the head thereby greatly simplifying the operationof constructing the body member 8 and eliminating the need to usebeveled gears. This is accomplished by the stem 29 and spring clip 3|which combine with the bushing 24 to prevent the spiral 21 and gear 33from being displaced longitudinally of the handle l2 in response to theforce exerted on the spiral 2! by the pin 5|.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. An adjustable end wrench comprising a-body member having one endforming a wrench head and an opposite, elongated end forming a wrenchhandle, a fixed wrench jaw formed integral with said wrench head, saidwrench head being recessed to provide an internal recessed portion, amovable jaw having a shank slidably engaging in the recessed portion andreciprocally movable therein for moving said movable jaw therewithtoward and away from the stationary jaw, a worm journaled in therecessed head portion, said shank having a toothed portion engaging theworm for moving said shank in the recessed head portion when the worm isremoved, said handle having a bore extending longitudinally therethroughhaving one end opening into the recessed head portion, a helically woundstrip loosely 'disposed in the handle bore forming a spiral havingspaced convolutions, said handle having a longitudinally extending slot,a collar slidably disposed on the handle, a pin extending inwardly fromthe collar loosely through said slot and engaging between adjacentconvolutions of the spiral to revolve the spiral in opposite directionswhen the collar is reciprocated on the handle, a gear secured to one endof said spiral and journaled in an end of said bore and extendingpartially into the recessed portion of the head, a pinion secured to theworm and meshing with said gear, said gear and pinion being disposed atan acute angle, and means journaling and nonslidably supporting the endof the spiral located remote from said gear adjacent the end of thehandle remote from the head.

2. An adjustable end wrench as in claim 1, said means comprising abearing detachably secured in the handle bore, a spindle having one endsecured in the last mentioned end ofthe spiral and having a portionextending through and journaled in said bearing, and a member detaohablyconnected to the opposite end of said spindle and engaging the side ofthe bearing opposite tothe side thereof engaged by the last mentionedend of the spiral to combine with said last mentioned spiral end toretain the spiral and gear against reciprocating movement in the handlebore in response to the thrust exerted on the spiral by the collarsupported pin.

3. An adjustable end wrench as in claim 1, said handle bore having aportion of enlarged REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,309,860 Kleine July 15, 19191,354,782 Schlote Oct. 5, 1920 1,391,180 Evans et a1. Sept. 20, 19211,739,182 Schlote Dec. 10, 1929 1,915,396 Alemany June 2'7, 19332,322,550 St-einacher June 22, 1943 2,447,094 Schlote Aug. 17, 19482,293,866

Talch Aug. 25, 1949

